One of the county’s best-known pub/restaurants has received a £500,000 refit and is looking to re-open under new tenants.

People came from miles around to visit the Ratcatchers in Eastgate, Cawston, before it closed four years ago.

And owner Graham Byrne hopes to bring the good times back and is looking for the right tenants to take it forward.

Mr Byrne said the pub had a totally new look.

He said: “Everything inside it is now new, except for a few walls. We have fully refurbished the whole place and it took two-and-a-half years.

Graham Byrne, left, and Glenn Tuck at the new Ratcatchers. Picture: David Bale

“We raised the ceilings in the pub and kitchen, and spent more than £0.5m on it. We have tarmacked over the gravel car park.

“We are now waiting for the right people to come along and take it on.”

The Ratcatchers was one of the first food pubs in the county and used to be booked up months in advance during its heyday.

Mr Byrne added: “It was probably as well-known and popular then as the Dabbling Duck is now. It won lots of awards.

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“We want to return it to the high-end, quality food establishment that it always was.

“Not one day goes by without someone asking me when it’s going to re-open. And we want that to be as soon as possible.

“It’s a shame the place is just sitting here now.

“So many pubs are closing and it will be so nice to see it re-open.

“Maybe it lends itself to a husband and wife team, an operator with a good name, or a top chef.”

The new pub/restaurant has nearly 100 covers with three bedrooms upstairs. The re-fit was carried out by Stratton Strawless-based builder Glenn Tuck.

The pub was run for many years by Peter McCarter who blamed tough trading conditions, cheap alcohol at supermarkets and the VAT rate, for the closure of the award-winning business. It was then run by Dean Critoph.

The property, which is on the crossroads of Easton Way and Haveringland Road, is available to let, at £45,000 per annum, on a new lease.